Top 5 Highlights of my life in Australia

Seeing as we are nearing the end of my amazing trip in Australia, I felt it would be fitting to summarise my highlights of this incredible country. There have been some tough times, some hilarious times, and some unforgettable times. I feel so blessed to have had the most incredible, life-changing adventure, all pretty much on an 'I have no idea what I want to do once I graduate' whim! 

Apart from the obvious, the Embelton family and their amazing generosity, kindness and love, there are so many things that I have been so fortunate to have experienced in the past 10 months. This is my 'top five' list (not in order, because that would be pretty darn impossible) of the highlights of my crazy life in Australia

1) Outback adventures. Unbelievable scenery, awesome people, sunset over King's Canyon (pretty hard to beat in my book), sharing beers around a bonfire, driving for hours without seeing anything than BAM there's a brown snake in the middle of the road. So many people come to Australia and completely miss the outback. What.a.mistake. I had the most incredible week travelling from Adelaide to Alice Springs; no trip to Australia is complete until you have seen the sun rise over Uluru at 5am. And eating Kangaroo on a BBQ. 

2) Sailing on the Whitsunday Islands. Incredible! I loved it so much that I stayed for an extra three days as a volunteer! The perfect sandy beaches of White Haven, snorkelling with blue-spotted sting rays, scuba diving with turtles and sharks on the Great Barrier Reef, whale watching at sun set, I defy anyone not to fall in love with the beautiful clear waters of Queensland. 

3) Sydney! Amazing! My real highlight of Sydney was the four hour bike tour I did with the coolest guide ever - Graeme at BikeBuffs. Voted number 3 of things to do in Sydney, it was absolutely the best way to see Sydney! Just walking around the botanical gardens with the view of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge was fantastic. Again, I met some awesome people and had a lot of fun (albeit very expensive) times in Sydney. 

4) Surfing in Noosa. Ok, so I will never be the surfer babe that I would love to be, and I only stood up on a surfboard once, but hell was it fun! I vowed to myself that I could not return from Australia without standing up on a surfboard so PHEW mission accomplished! Seriously good exercise as my body ached so much the day after! (and I really enjoyed my glass of wine as a 'post surfing' treat watching the sunset over the beach!)

5) Byron Bay, now it is finally sunny, I am in love with it here! It reminds me a lot of Stroud, mainly because it is full of vegan cafes and tragic hippies. The easy, laid back attitude of Aussie's is just magnified by one hundred in this awesome town. The beach is full of surfer dudes, the views from the lighthouse are beautiful and I saw about fifteen dolphins jumping waves here! Amazing! Oh and red lentil Dahl and rice for $5 is hard to resist at the amazing restaurant 'Cardamom Pod'. 

Other amazing experiences of Australia include the Great Ocean Road, Tasmania, Fraser Island, Melbourne CBD.... I could go on forever! 

I'm going to miss Australia more than I can say, but I am really looking forward to coming home to my wonderful family who I have missed huge amounts, and then I'm off to Belgium for my next big adventure! One day, I suppose I should settle down and get a 'real job' but for now, I am loving life, living it to the maximum and seizing the day because life is beautiful and I'm feeling incredibly cheesy! xxxxx